Bad Career Move
Even those who need a job are potential victims of fraud
Thursday, July 07, 2005
BY : Brian Ashe
The job market here in the U.S. is not looking good for everyone out there. Many people are looking at their paychecks feeling that it still looks the same as it did two years ago. With increasing gas prices, utility bills and mounting credit card debt, the costs of living are encroaching on or have already passed many family's earnings.
Of course, just because these people may be struggling to make ends meet doesn't mean they are not still fair game to those would conspire to have a piece of what they have left.
In a new approach to advanced fee fraud, the myriad jobs sites are being speckled with new offers of promising contract work overseas. These are often touted as short term (six months to a year), high paying (ie. $180,000 USD) proposals. The position will not require an unheard of list of qualifications. Needing little more than business acumen, people skills, commitment, etc.
Then there is the catch...
If you are truly interested in the position, you will need to come up with a little cash to get yourself started. It will, of course, be refunded later. Fees for items like...
- Administrative charges
- Diplomatic Courier Charges
- Working Permit charges
- Residential Permit charges
- Hard copies of the terms
Can run you around $950 USD. Payed with acceptance of the position so they can get all the documents in order ASAP.
Needless to say, there is little likelyhood of ever seeing anything after that money has been sent.
The various job sites do try to remove bogus offers, but they rely largely on notification from vigilant users of their services. So if you happen to come across a listing that seems suspicious or run into some odd exchanges with a potential position, make sure to let the listing site know about your concerns so that they can move to delist it in a timely manner. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
By the way, good luck with the job hunt.
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